


Until I Feel Your Touch

by missbecky



Category: Marvel 616
Genre: Established Relationship, Light Angst, M/M, Missing someone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:29:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23742328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky/pseuds/missbecky
Summary: Tony has been separated from Steve for too long, and for not all the right reasons. And he's sick of it.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 46
Kudos: 202





	Until I Feel Your Touch

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to [nostalgicatsea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nostalgicatsea/pseuds/nostalgicatsea/works) for the feedback. Title and inspiration come from Blinding Lights by The Weeknd.

A year ago Tony would have loved this.

Las Vegas was always a great place to visit for any reason, but never more so than during Tech Week, when everyone under the sun fought to have the greatest reveal, the biggest new invention, and the shiniest must-have tech of the year. It was a singular contest, where alliances shifted every day, rivalries could form and be laid to rest in one hour, and no one slept until it was all over.

For Tony, past expos had always been a chance for Stark Industries to unveil its latest weaponry, brightest new gadget, biggest surprise. He had loved it, dressing up in a tux every day, walking through the conference hall like a lord surveying the manor -- when he wasn’t standing at a podium in one of the smaller halls giving a speech that was always well-attended even though he himself rarely remembered a word of it afterward.

There was always a lot of booze at these things.

This year it was different, though. It wasn’t just that he no longer drank, or that SI didn’t make weapons. The whole expo felt off, somehow, and Tony couldn’t put his finger on it. He only knew that he felt restless in his own skin as he gazed on the exhibits and made banal small talk with the men and women who were his competitors on a good day, and bitter enemies the rest of the time.

The simple truth, he thought, was that he didn’t want to be here.

It was late when the realization came to him, well into the early morning hours of the next day. Thursday, maybe. He didn’t know. He was exhausted, every fiber of his body crying out for sleep. All the days blurred together during a week like this, full of exhibit halls and lectures all day long, extravagant dinners and parties all evening, and frantic sessions with your fellow co-workers all night while you strove to make your exhibit better, your tech shinier, and outdo what you had seen that day from someone else.

Standing on the balcony of his hotel, Tony looked up into the night sky and felt an almost overwhelming urge to get out. Anywhere would do. He just could not take one more moment of Vegas and its blinding lights.

The suit was there in a moment, unfolding itself, wrapping around him, enclosing him in the only place he had ever truly felt safe. The HUD blinked on and a second later he was in the air, arcing away from the hotel and the lights of the city.

Up high, he could see stars, the light pollution left behind him along with every hope and disappointment and boring speech from the previous day. He streaked down a street that was little more than a blur of color from this distance, absently noted a plane leaving McCarran Airport, and banked to his right.

They had argued before he left New York. “Why don’t you want me to come with you?”

He had smiled, pretending the question didn’t bother him. “Steve, you would be bored to death out there, trust me. And I know you’re not the type to just hang out by the hotel pool all day, working on your tan.”

“You never know,” Steve had said, trying to smile. “It’s still cold out here.”

But Tony had refused to hear it. “You’ve got things of your own to do,” he had said. “I don’t want you just hanging around all day, waiting on me.”’

And predictably, Steve had bristled. “Is that you what you think? That I’d just sit around, ‘waiting on you?’”

“Well, what else would you do all day?” Tony had asked. Flying high above Sin City, he could still hear the words, how cheerful he had sounded, as though he thought it was all some kind of joke. All the better to keep Steve from knowing just how much it hurt him to push him away, for any reason.

“You know what,” Steve had said, “I think you’re right. You go to Vegas. Look at tech. Give a speech. I’ll stay here in New York.”

And so he had left, but not without regrets. The truth was, he hadn’t wanted Steve here because part of him had known even then that he would not be able to enjoy the expo. Not the way he had in the past. And he hadn’t wanted to pretend in front of Steve, to act like he was still thrilled to see new weaponry and do the inevitable Tony Stark thing by boasting out loud that his own genius could have done better. He hadn’t wanted the inevitable questions, the gossip, the sneaky photographs that would end up in a tabloid the next day, captioned by a tacky headline. 

Only now, after too many long days and sleepless nights, could he admit how wrong he had been.

“Sir, I should point out that you are nearly at the Nevada state line,” the AI said.

Startled, Tony stopped in mid-flight. He had been flying due east, he realized. Heading for New York without even thinking about it

Heading for Steve.

The pull eastward, toward Steve, was irresistible. Tony didn’t even try to refuse. Nor did he want to. He had been along out here too long. He needed to see Steve again. He needed to.

It was entirely possible. If he pushed the suit and didn’t linger too long at the Tower, he could make it there and back again in time for his role in tomorrow’s exhibits. He could see Steve, wake him up and apologize for being an ass, and hope Steve forgave him.

He could kiss Steve, and be kissed in return.

“New plan, F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Tony said. “We’re going home.”

“Calculating new flight plan,” she said, though he knew the calculations were already complete by the time she was finished speaking.

Tony fired every thruster the suit had, and raced east.

****

It was nearly dawn when he arrived at the Tower. After a brief exchange with the AI that ran the building, Tony landed on the roof and let himself in. Just as he had wanted, no alarms went off, no alerts were broadcast, and no one was informed of his arrival. He was alone, the way he had been all week.

He was sick of it.

The bedroom he and Steve shared was several floors down. Leaving the suit behind, Tony took the elevator down. He would stop in the bathroom to freshen up first, he decided, maybe brush his teeth and comb his hair. His tuxedo shirt was wrinkled and the bowtie lost in the hotel room in Vegas, but he could still make himself look presentable. Steve deserved that much.

The elevator doors slid open, and Tony walked out into the hall. The instant he did, he realized he was not alone out here. Someone was standing in the hall right in front of his bedroom. Someone wearing a loose pair of sleep pants and nothing else. Someone with tousled blond hair, a glorious chest, and adorable bare feet.

Steve’s eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”

“I had to see you,” Tony said. It was the stupidest thing he could have said, he thought, and he winced at how ridiculous he sounded.

But Steve stared at him, and a slow smile spread across his face. “Really?”

It was all right, Tony understood. Steve wasn’t angry with him, or thought he was being presumptuous or silly or anything like that. In fact, Steve was just as happy to see him as Tony was to be there.

He nodded. He walked forward. “I discovered something tonight.”

“What was that?” Steve asked. Even in the dim light of the hallway, his eyes were a vivid blue.

“That I hate Tech Week,” Tony said.

“I thought it was the most exciting time of the year,” Steve said, echoing what Tony himself had said before he left.

“That was last week,” Tony said. A year ago. A lifetime ago. How could he ever have wandered happily through that maze of exhibits, champagne glass in one hand and a gorgeous woman on his other arm, thinking he was the king of the world? How could he have thought he had anything at all, when in truth he had had nothing?

“Tony.” Steve’s jaw tightened, a sure sign that he was displeased. “I hope you didn’t abandon your obligations just to come here and say that.”

“Maybe I did,” Tony said. He didn’t give a shit. “And maybe I just wanted to see you again.” He took another step, and then he was there, directly in front of Steve. Close enough to smell the sleep warmth of him. Close enough for every hair on his arms to stand up in a thrill of anticipation.

“And maybe I’m glad you did,” Steve murmured. He bent his head,and Tony leaned in toward him, and he had never been happier.

Steve’s lips were warm and soft, his mouth warm and inviting. Tony pressed against him, one hand flat on the skin of Steve’s back, the other somewhere between them, trying to get rid of their clothing. Their fingers tangled as Steve reached down with the same intent, and Tony broke the kiss to throw back his head and laugh with pure joy.

Together they moved into the bedroom, Tony shutting the door behind them. Outside the sky was starting to lighten with the rising sun, but in here it was still warm and dark. And he had been wrong again, he thought. It wasn’t the suit that made him feel safe.

It was here. It was Steve, and Steve’s touch.

“When I go back,” Tony breathed, “I want you to come with me.”

Steve barely hesitated as he led them onto the bed, naked skin on skin. “Okay.”

“And next year too,” Tony said in between kisses.

“Okay,” Steve said.

“And--”

Steve stopped him with a kiss that pushed him back into the pillows. “Enough,” he said. He leaned over Tony. “Don’t you know I’d go with you anywhere? You never have to ask.”

Tony pulled him down with both arms. He had hoped, but he hadn’t known. Not for sure. But he knew it now. And he wasn’t likely to forget.

He would sleep after this, he thought. Sleep until noon or even later if he wanted. There was nothing to stop him.

But that was later. Now was for Steve’s kiss, Steve’s hands, Steve’s body.

Now was for Steve.


End file.
